 | |
| Company type | 501(c)(3) non-profit medical research organization |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pharmaceutical; Psychedelic medicine |
| Founded | 2014 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States |
| Founder | Bill Linton; Malynn Utzinger [1] |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of employees | 18 [1] (March 2019 [1] ) |
| Website | www |
The Usona Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit medical research organization (MRO) which is developing psychedelic drugs for potential medical use. [2] [1] It was launched by scientist and entrepreneur Bill Linton, who is the founder of the biotechnology company Promega Corporation, and by physician Malynn Utzinger in 2014. [2] [1]
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The organization is developing psilocybin (4-HO-DMT) for treatment of depression. [3] [4] It started a phase 2 clinical trial of psilocybin for major depressive disorder in 2019. [2] The same year, this candidate received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "breakthrough therapy" designation. [2] [5] This clinical trial has since been completed and its psilocybin candidate is now in phase 3 clinical studies. [6] [7] In July 2024, it was said that the Usona Institute was leading the largest clinical trial of ongoing psilocybin treatment for depression, a phase 3 trial with 240 participants treated with 5 or 25 mg psilocybin or placebo. [8] Other candidates of the institute include mebufotenin (5-MeO-DMT) [9] and bufotenin (5-HO-DMT), [10] among others. [11] [12]
The Usona Institute is notable in manufacturing large quantities of synthetic psilocybin and supplying the drug for clinical trials throughout the world, which it does for free for research purposes. [2] [13]
